Hay-press.



No. 630,785. Patented Aug. 8, -l899.

I. W. STUART.

HAY PRESS.

(Application filed Mar. 24, 1899 1 (N0 Model.)

anism, and a plunger.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ITHAMER IV. STUART, O F RICH HILL, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO WVILLIAM B. LEWIS AND JAMES M. RATEKIN, OF CEDAR COUNTY, MISSOURI.

HAY-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent nol-esoflsa'datea August 8, 1899. Application filed March 24,1899. Serial No. 710,399- (llo'modelJ To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ITHAMER W. STUART, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rich Hill, in the county of Bates and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hay-Presses and I do hereby declare the following .to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to power-presses, especially to presses for baling hay. Its object is to produce a press which is simple in action and easily manufactured or repaired. It consists,essentially, of a press-frame, power mech- The plunger is operated by a sweep-beam and a sweep head, so that power is gained with the movement of the mechanism until the end of the compression, the plunger then being caused to rebound. The plunger has a powerful but simple combination of a pivoted pitman, a swinging link, power connected on one side of the pitman, and a returning-spring on the opposite side.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of my inventionwith the sill broken away to include the whole within the limits of the View, and Fig. 2 isa sectional elevation on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, 1 indicates the press-frame, and 2 a sill, which forms the bottom of the press cylinder or box and also the foundation for the power mechanism.

3 is a feed-throat, which may be of any suitable oonstruction.

4 is a plunger; 5, a pitman 6, a pivoted link; 7, uprights connected at the top, and 8 a spring.

At the forward end of the sill 2 is the power mechanism, illustrated as a horse-power. It consists of a sweep-beam 9, pivoted to the sill at 10 and having means for attaching the horses at 11, and an independent sweep-head lever 12, pivoted to thesill at 13, the sweephead lever having an upwardly-projecting pin or antifriction-roller 1 1 on a projection 15, having a cut-away surface 16 to form a stop, which takes against the sill. The sweep-head in this example plays in a slot in the end of the sill, the slot being formed in this instance by a plate 17 and intervening divisions. The sweep-beam has slots or mortises 18 and 19 let into the bottom,wider at one end than the other or having one side inclined, and oppositely placed in this relation so that as the sweep-beam is drawn around in the direction of the arrow power will be gained by the rolling of the antifriction-roller or fulcrum-point along the side of the sweep-beam until it reaches th e slot 18, whereupon the sweep-head will rebound, the antifriction-roller or powerpoint passing through the slot. The sweephead is then almost immediately engaged by the opposite end and side of the sweep-beam and the operation is repeated. The antifriction-roller or fulcrum-point passes in this case through the slot 19, so that at each revolution of the sweep-beam the plunger is twice operated.

As illustrated,a connecting-chain 20 reaches from one end of the sweep-head over a pulley 21 to the under side of the outer end of the pitman 5. This pitman is pivoted in a slot in the swinging link playingbetween the up rights. The pitman is connected with a beam joining the uprights 7 to the spring 8. At each reciprocation of the chain or other power connections the pitman is drawn down and the plunger forced in, the power being applied so that as little power as possible is lost. The spring attached to the top side of the pitman instantly returns it when the plunger is freed by the separation of the sweep-head and the sweep-beam.

I have constructed my apparatus especially with a view to obtaining all the power possible with the simplest form of mechanism, so that while my press is practicable in the highest sense it is also easily manufactured and may be easily repaired by an ordinary mechanic. There is nothing in the plunger mechanism, for example, which requires nicety of adjustment or measurement, it being sufficient to simply provide for the full play of the plunger in the feed-box. My press will work effectively even with roughlyformed and crude parts, and it may be made so heavy and strong that it will be practically indestructible, my aim being to provide a press which under all conditions will be ready for instant service.

Having fully described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. In a hay-press,the combination of a pressframe and a plunger, with a pivoted pitman, a link above the plunger pivoted to the pressframe and carrying the outer end of the pitman, and a spring attached to the press-frame and to the end of the pitrnan drawing in one direction, and a power connection attached to the same end of the pitrnan and drawing in the opposite direction, substantially as described.

2. In ahay-prcss,thc combination of a press- 

